A standing Panel on Animal Health and Veterinary Medicine will be established jointly by the Board on Agriculture (BA) and the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine (IOM). The panel will be appointed under the auspices of the BA. The purpose of the Panel on Animal Health and Veterinary Medicine, and the activities carried out under its supervision, is to foster scientifically sound assessments of the issues confronting professionals involved with the care and use of animals in food production, recreation, and biomedical research. This panel will bring together a broad spectrum of expertise in veterinary medicine, animal health, animal production, food processing technology and safety, regulatory issues, public health, and public policy to give broad credibility to these assessments.By maintaining surveillance of all areas of animal health, the Panel will be able to identify and address new concepts and problems in the control of disease in domestic animals, and the interaction of animal production practices and disease, with human health and safety of the food supply. To determine the importance/relevance of specific projects to be undertaken, the Panel may establish task forces to examine specific issues, determine appropriate objectives, and suggest experts to address the issue. The Panel will utilize groups of specialists (committee/subcommittee format), symposia, and technical workshops with publication of reports or proceedings to examine the problems. Establishment of subcommittees, and review of reports will follow the specific procedures outlined by the National Academy of Science to ensure the highest report quality and unbiased assessments of the issues under review. The ':Panel will respond to specific requests for studies by government agencies and others, as well focus on broad-spectrum issues of education and policy in the area of animal health and medicine.During the first three years the panel will focus on two major interrelated topic areas. These are: (1) evaluation of food animal production practices with an emphasis on their potential effects on human health and the environment; and (2) evaluation of public policy and economic considerations in the production, care and use of animals for food, human health research, and recreation. Additional topics will be addressed by the panel as the need arises.